After frenetic online voting, you chose Dead Electric, Riviera, Duenow and Treologic as the winners of the metromix local-band contest.
Over 12 days, you cast more than 240,000 votes for your favorite up-and-comers, after we had narrowed the picks to 10 promising acts. The four winners now get to play a free concert March 31 at Metro. (See metromix.com for ticket information.)
“I was absolutely shocked when we won,” says drummer Steven Chesney of Dead Electric, whose group racked up the most votes. “We checked the online poll Monday morning and we figured that we came in fifth or sixth place.”
Yes, it’s true: Over-eager readers tried to skew voting by stuffing the ballot box. We can’t say we blame them. A gig at the Metro–the Holy Grail for many up-and-coming Chicago bands–is enough to drive some to unsavory behavior. But our crack tech team was able to filter out bogus ballots and identify the four winners.
“The Metro has been a staple in my life since I was 13 years old, when I first stumbled in there to see Public Image Ltd.,” says 29-year-old Duenow singer and guitarist Zach Duenow. “I would have never imagined that I’d be up on that stage someday.”
Duenow, which received the third-highest tally, brought out the vote by sending e-mails to 700 people on its mailing list.
“We begged, pleaded and sometimes bribed our fans in those e-mails,” Duenow says. “Actually, it didn’t take much to get folks online. People really seem to embrace the little guy, and our fans were happy to help us out.”
E-mail wasn’t the only tool groups used to drum up support.
“Being music fans, we spend a lot of time yakking on message boards about music,” says Derek Phillips, 32, the singer and guitarist in Riviera, which ranked second in the final voting. “Having posted on some of the message boards for years, we developed some relationships, and those people really helped us get the word out.”
Now that the vote is over, it’s up to you to check out these bands live. Go to metromix.com for information on where you can get your free tickets to the concert. Plus, check out bios of the bands and songs from the 10 finalists.
Dead Electric, Riviera, Duenow and Treologic
When: 8:30 p.m., March 31
Where: Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.
Tickets: Free, but tickets are required.
Details on metromix.com
